This invention relates to apparatus and methods for cooling electronic devices, such as, for example, thermal interface members for cooling removable (or “pluggable”) electronic devices.
Some known electronic devices are manufactured according to industry standards that specify the size, shape, form factor and/or electronic performance of the electronic device. The use of such standards allows similar electronic devices produced by different manufacturers to be used interchangeably within a data processing unit (e.g., a router, a switch, a server and/or the like). Because the size, shape and/or form factor of such known electronic devices are dictated by such industry standards, in certain instances limited flexibility may exist to change the design of an electronic device to improve heat dissipation, increase power levels or the like. Accordingly, some known data processing units include heat sinks and/or other ancillary devices external to the data processing to improve the overall performance of such electronic devices.
For example, some known optical transceivers are manufactured according to an industry standard known as the Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) standard. Optical transceivers manufactured according to the SFP standard are configured to be “pluggable” such that the optical transceiver can be inserted and/or removed from the host data processing unit without removing power from the unit. Some such optical transceivers are installed inside of the host data processing unit within a protective cage or enclosure that includes a heat sink to dissipate heat from a top surface of the optical transceiver. Such known configurations, however, do not include any mechanism for promoting heat transfer from the bottom surface of the optical transceiver.
Thus, a need exists for improved apparatus and methods for apparatus and methods for cooling electronic devices.